Tennessee 2018 Primary Election Results
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Special Report Tennessee 2018 Primary Election Results Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s Morning after Report: 2018 Primary Election On Thursday, August 2, 2018, Tennessee voters went to the polls to elect primary nominees for state and federal offices. For Tennessee’s business community, 2018 is a significant election cycle that will usher in a new era of leadership in Tennessee to the Governor’s office, the Tennessee General Assembly and a number of new congressional members. The Tennessee Chamber has been working to ensure this transition is smooth for business, meeting with candidates and talking to them about important business issues. It is crucially important that our new leaders work to maintain and enhance Tennessee’s business climate with continued focus on workforce development and a strong business policy climate for economic growth. Let’s look at the primary winners and begin to assess the general election matchups. Governor – After a total of eight years in office, term limited Governor Bill Haslam’s retirement spurred a vigorous multi-candidate primary race for both the Democratic and Republican nominations. Both primaries have been highly contested setting new records for campaign spending (over $51 million). Most attention has focused on high profile Republican candidates, who have spent the most and where the available polling data showed a tight race heading into Election Day. In the end political outsider Bill Lee decisively won the Republican nomination over former ECD Commissioner Randy Boyd, U.S. House member Diane Black and TN House Speaker Beth Harwell, respectively. In the Democratic primary former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean captured 75% of the vote and cruised to victory over State Representative Craig Fitzhugh. Now, both primary winners must quickly regroup as the general election is less than 100 days away. U.S. Senate – As expected Congressman Marsha Blackburn (R-Brentwood) and former-Gov. Phil Bredesen (D- Nashville) won their parties respective nominations to replace retiring Senator Bob Corker (R-Chattanooga). Both candidates have a broad swath of supporters statewide, and potentially this race has national implications for control of the U.S. Senate. Current public polling shows the Senate race to be tight; several national outlets are rating it a “toss up”. For the U.S. Senate race we expect a heated battle up until election day in November. We predict that by Labor Day voters will be unable to avoid these candidates as they make their case for the November general election. U.S. Congress Three of the nine Congressional seats were vacated this year, providing a number of open seat opportunities. Tim Burchett (TN-02), John Rose (TN-06) and Mark Green (TN-07) were victorious in the Republican primaries. Each of these Congressional seats are safe Republican with a voting index of R+20 or higher. Historical Note: In east TN Congressman Jimmy Duncan (TN-02, R-Knoxville) is retiring after 30 years in office. He was preceded in the office by his father, John Duncan, Sr. Many have noted next year will be the first year since 1964 that a Duncan has not represented the Knoxville area in Congress. Tennessee Legislature: State Senate & State House Please see chart below for unofficial primary results. The State Legislature has an historic number of retirements this year, generating at least 24 races in the House and 3 in the Senate to fill these seats. If you add in the members who were appointed to fill previous vacancies in the past year and are running now, there will be more than 30 new legislators sworn into office in January 2019. There are also several hotly contested primaries for both Democrat and Republican incumbents across the state. Republicans will retain control of both Chambers in the Legislature in 2019, but this has been one the most interesting primary election seasons in recent memory. Incumbents Rep. Barry Doss, Rep. Tim Wirgau and Senator Reginald Tate were defeated in their reelection efforts. Background: Previous Election Year Outcomes Similar to a number of Southern states, Tennessee state and federal election results have almost entirely trended Republican since 1994. Democrats are predicting better performance in 2018, touting an energized base, strong and unified campaign message and increased candidates fielded in a number of contests. Looking at recent primary turnout it is difficult to predict what impact this will have in Tennessee’s November election results. Below is a chart that shows political party performance in Tennessee. Election U.S. Senate U.S. House Governor St. Senate St. House 1994 2 R 5 R / 4 D R Dem control Dem control 2002 2 R 4 R / 5 D D Dem control Dem control 2006 2 R 4 R / 5 D D Rep control Dem control 2010 2 R 7 R / 2 D R Rep control Rep control 1 R; likely open seat: maintain maintain 2018 open seat: tbd 7 R / 2 D tbd Rep control Rep control Below we have made our best effort to capture all of the primary results from across the state. Please note that these are unofficial results complied from the best sources available. Tennessee does not have run-offs in state and federal elections. Winners of each primary will face off in the general election in November. ## 2018 TN Legislative & Congressional Races-FINAL Results-Aug 2 Primary Winners of August Primary are highlighted in their media-assigned partisan colors. Bold text indicates incumbent member of current office checkmark also indicates primary winner Independents in general election will be listed in a later document GOVERNOR'S RACE 2018 PRIMARY RESULTS REPUBLICAN % Votes DEMOCRAT % Votes Diane Black 23.1% 181177 Karl Dean 75.0% 277516 Randy Boyd 24.4% 192085 Craig Fitzhugh 19.5% 72037 Beth Harwell 15.3% 120291 Mezianne Vale Payne 5.5% 20222 Bill Lee 36.6% 287959 Basil Marceaux 0.2% 1290 Kay White 0.4% 3167 TOTALS, GOP 100% 785969 TOTALS, DEM 100% 369775 US SENATE RACE 2018 PRIMARY RESULTS REPUBLICAN % Votes DEMOCRAT % Votes Marsha Blackburn 84.5% 606402 Phil Bredesen 91.5% 346305 Aaron L. Pettigrew 15.5% 111483 Gay Davis 5.3% 20066 John Wolfe 3.2% 12177 TOTALS, GOP 100% 717885 TOTALS, DEM 100% 378548 prepared by Chas TN Chamber 1 2018 TN Legislative & Congressional Races-FINAL Results-Aug 2 Primary Winners of August Primary are highlighted in their media-assigned partisan colors. Bold text indicates incumbent member of current office checkmark also indicates primary winner Independents in general election will be listed in a later document U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE 2018 PRIMARY RESULTS Status District REPUBLICAN % Votes DEMOCRAT % Votes Mickie Lou Banyas 4.4% 4250 Marty Olsen unopposed James Brooks 5.2% 5053 Todd A. McKinley 16.7% 16173 01 Phil Roe 73.7% 71529 re-elect TOTALS, GOP 100% 97005 Tim Burchett 48.2% 47914 Renee Hoyos 72.4% 22203 Jason Emert 2.3% 2274 Joseph W. Schenkenfelder 4.5% 1382 Hank Hamblin 0.9% 855 Joshua Williams 23.1% 7076 Jimmy Matlock 36.1% 35845 02 Ashley Nickloes 11.0% 10955 Vito Sagliano 0.8% 844 Open SeatOpen David Stansberry 0.7% 656 TOTALS, GOP 100% 99343 TOTALS, DEM 100% 30661 Chuck Fleischmann 79.4% 67778 Danielle Mitchell unopposed Jeremy Massengale 12.0% 10212 Harold E. Shevlin 2.4% 2055 03 William E. Spurlock, Sr 6.3% 5352 re-elect TOTALS, GOP 100% 85397 TOTALS, DEM unopposed Scott DesJarlais 70.0% 61979 Christopher J. Hale 34.7% 11305 Jack Maddux 30.0% 26571 Mariah Phillips 47.5% 15468 04 Steven Reynolds 17.8% 5786 re-elect TOTALS, GOP 100% 88550 TOTALS, DEM 65% 32559 Jody M. Ball 55.8% 20046 Jim Cooper unopposed Glen Dean 44.2% 15899 05 re-elect TOTALS, GOP 100% 35945 Bob Corlew 31.2% 33088 Dawn Barlow 54.5% 16875 Judd Matheny 15.8% 16753 Christopher Martin Finley 15.1% 4662 Christopher B. Monday 2.8% 3021 Peter Hefferman 8.4% 2590 06 John Rose 41.2% 43788 Merrilee Wineinger 22.1% 6828 Lavern Vivio 9.0% 9506 Open SeatOpen TOTALS, GOP 100% 106156 TOTALS, DEM 100% 30955 Mark Green unopposed Justin Kanew 62.0% 20810 Matt Reel 38.0% 12741 07 Open SeatOpen TOTALS, GOP unopposed TOTALS, DEM 100% 33551 George Flinn 39.7% 40893 John Boatner 49.6% 16845 David Kustoff 56.0% 57733 Erika Stotts Pearson 50.4% 17129 08 Colleen Owens 4.3% 4456 re-elect TOTALS, GOP 100% 103082 TOTALS, DEM 100% 33974 Charlotte Bergmann unopposed Steve Cohen 91.0% 67418 Isaac Richmond 2.7% 1975 09 Kasandra L. Smith 6.4% 4728 re-elect TOTALS, DEM 100% 74121 prepared by Chas TN Chamber 2 2018 TN Legislative & Congressional Races-FINAL Results-Aug 2 Primary Winners of August Primary are highlighted in their media-assigned partisan colors. Bold text indicates incumbent member of current office checkmark also indicates primary winner Independents in general election will be listed in a later document TENNESSEE SENATE 2018 PRIMARY RESULTS Status District REPUBLICAN % Votes DEMOCRAT % Votes 01 Steve Southerland unopposed no candidate filed Wesley P. Maples 15.5% 3791 Art Swann 56.5% 13823 no candidate filed 02 Scott P. Williams 27.9% 6831 special appointee TOTALS, GOP 100% 24445 03 Rusty Crowe unopposed no candidate filed 05 Randy McNally unopposed Stuart Starr unopposed 07 Richard Briggs unopposed Jamie Ballinger unopposed 09 Mike Bell unopposed Carl Lansden unopposed 11 Bo Watson unopposed Randy Price unopposed Ernest Burgess 41.8% 7633 Kelly Northcutt unopposed 13 Dawn White 58.2% 10638 Open SeatOpen TOTALS, GOP 100% 18271 15 Paul Bailey unopposed Angela Hedgecough unopposed 17 Mark Pody unopposed Mary Alice Carfi unopposed Brenda Gilmore 64.7% 14050 Howard Jones 24.6% 5331 no candidate filed 19 Sandra V.